Budget Friendly Weddings: Tips & Tricks
Today I am going to let you in on all my secrets. However, they are not secrets, as I will tell any of my couples these exact things, if we are being mindful of a tighter budget. I am not here to try to get every last penny out of you. I am not here to talk you into or out of things you do or do not want. I am here to work with you and make the most out of your budget.
My first hot take. Please don’t get mad at me when I say this, but skip the boutonnieres. Seriously, just skip them. Okay, maybe just the groom. First of all, guys don’t want to be wearing flowers. It's a hassle. It's a pain to pin them right. It adds up so quickly, especially if we are putting them on the groomsmen, ushers, dads, grandpas, etc. By taking out the boutonnieres, you can cut a couple hundred bucks off your quote.
Okay, same vein, skip the corsages. Mom’s, don’t come after me. Corsages are a bit dated and no matter what you do, they never hold up the entire day. I can reinforce those suckers with E6000, it doesn’t matter. I suggest having the moms carry a single rose down the aisle. Another idea would be to have moms carry a mini posey. Then we can put that mini bouquet in a vase and use it for decor at the reception. Again, cutting out those corsages will see you a hundred bucks or two.
If you read my blog from October of 2024, I talked about reusing your florals for maximum impact. Not everyone has $15,000 to spend on flowers for their wedding, understandably so. But many of my brides want a big flower impact. To that, I highly encourage you to skip the arch arrangement. The arch arrangement can not easily be repurposed without moving the entire arch. Instead, opt for more reusable pieces. We can do a semi circle gardenscape arrangement. It’s like standing in a mini floral garden of your color palette, like the venue changed their landscaping just for your wedding. We can add height and dimension to the large arrangement to give you that impact that an arch creates. The mechanics of these semi circle garden scape arrangements allow them to easily be repurposed to the reception space. They look perfect in front of a head table or sweetheart table. You can also put the arrangement by the welcome sign or the bar.
Another reusable option would be to use large urn arrangements on pillars for your ceremony. The tall arrangements on a stand help create the framing illusion that an arch does. We can easily move those statement ceremony pieces to the entry sign, bar, guest book table, seating chart, remembrance table, or wherever your heart desires.
Another big flower impact arrangement, yet still reusable are aisle flower clouds. These shorter arrangements line the aisle for your ceremony and then can become the perfect centerpieces. Fill in the rest of your guest table centerpieces with some beautiful candle and bud vase arrangements and your reception is what dreams are made of.
My last budget friendly piece of advice is to bump the standard size of 20-25 stem bridesmaids bouquets down to mini posies. These cute, dainty 10-12 stem bouquets will save you some coin but still look great with your girls.
Hopefully I didn’t ruffle too many feathers. There are lots of options to have a good size flower impact, even with a budget. You just have to focus on what creates that floral impact instead of what is the norm, like boutonnieres.
Talk soon,
NK
